


A Fist Full of Lilies

by DrowningByDegrees



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Prompt Fic, very slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 05:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13160568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrowningByDegrees/pseuds/DrowningByDegrees
Summary: Bucky was so lost in his train of thought, it didn’t occur to him to wonder why the young man was still standing there. He was - probably understandably - taken by surprise when instead of moving on, the stranger reached for the carefully cultivated lilies that lined the edge of Bucky’s yard, plucking a single stem.Written for the prompt: "Sometimes I steal flowers from your garden on my way to the cemetery, but today you’ve caught me and have demanded to come with me to make sure the “girl is pretty enough to warrant flower theft” and I’m trying to figure out how to break it to you that we’re on our way to a graveyard."





	A Fist Full of Lilies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mari_Knickerbocker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mari_Knickerbocker/gifts).



> One of the works I am writing for [ Fandom Loves Puerto Rico](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/FandomLovesPuertoRico). The lovely [Mari_Knickerbocker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mari_Knickerbocker) one a couple of my drabbles, and for this one, requested the following prompt: 
> 
> “Sometimes I steal flowers from your garden on my way to the cemetery, but today you’ve caught me and have demanded to come with me to make sure the “girl is pretty enough to warrant flower theft” and I’m trying to figure out how to break it to you that we’re on our way to a graveyard."

Bucky glanced out the window as he put on his shoes, meaning to go for a jog. There was a young man standing on the sidewalk in front of Bucky’s house, not that that was peculiar. Neighborhoods like this - quiet and mostly well-manicured - people went for walks all the time. Besides, it wasn’t that this was a new, unfamiliar face. Bucky had seen him pass by plenty of times. His features were severe and pretty, so striking that you almost didn’t notice the faded and sometimes slightly threadbare clothes that made him stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe that was just Bucky, who had talked himself out of trying to strike up a conversation more times than he could count. 

Today, the stranger didn’t look out of place at all. His usual worn out t-shirts and jeans had been traded for slacks and a pale blue button down. Bucky had no business wondering what the occasion was, but speculated anyway. Maybe he had a date, and why wouldn’t he? Slight and serious as the stranger appeared, he was lovely, and it wasn’t as if he was likely to be waiting for Bucky to work up the courage to talk to him. 

Bucky was so lost in his train of thought, it didn’t occur to him to wonder why the young man was still standing there. He was - probably understandably - taken by surprise when instead of moving on, the stranger reached for the carefully cultivated lilies that lined the edge of Bucky’s yard, plucking a single stem. 

All thought about how pretty the guy was fled in favor of aggravation. Bucky flung the front door open and hurried down his porch steps, shouting, “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

The startled jump Bucky’s yelling elicited would have been funny any other time. In his shock, the man on the sidewalk dropped the lily, staring at Bucky with big, pretty doe eyes that Bucky did his very best to ignore since it turned out the object of his daydreaming was a damned thief. His voice was lower than Bucky had expected, soft and ashamed. “I’m sorry. I… I was going to pay you back for it.” 

Pay him back? Bucky’s brows furrowed. A few weeks before, he’d found two dollars tucked half under the welcome mat on his porch. “Was that you a little while back?”

It was impossible to be angry with someone who looked as completely humiliated as this guy did. “The flower shop I walk by won’t let you buy just the one.”

The clothes, the flower, all of it made sense in a way that squeezed Bucky’s heart a bit. Bucky never showed up for a date empty-handed. He couldn’t imagine how awful it would feel trying to impress someone when you couldn’t even afford a few flowers. Impulsively, Bucky plucked a few more lilies from his yard and scooped the fallen one off the sidewalk, holding them out. “Don’t worry about it.”

“What? No. I can’t possibly.” The stranger shifted uncomfortably, his gaze flicking between Bucky’s face and the flowers. 

“Sure you can.” Bucky smiled, desperately trying to lighten the mood. “I mean, come on. She’s worth it, isn’t she?”

The man’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he managed an answer. “Of course.” 

Bucky flashed a wide smile at his new acquaintance, forgetting he’d been irritated just a few moments before. “Good. Then quit arguing and take them.”

“I really shouldn’t.” It was exactly the response Bucky expected, and he was having none of it. 

“Well, she’s getting them one way or another. Either you give them to her,” Bucky started, punctuating the words by offering the makeshift bouquet again. “Or I will.”

Bucky expected an argument. What he didn’t expect was, “Are you always this obnoxious?”

“Usually worse,” Bucky retorted. He got a watery, lopsided smile for his efforts, the expression startlingly endearing. Whoever this girl was, she was decidedly lucky. 

“Fine.” The stranger swiped the lilies, rolling his eyes all the while. 

He started to walk away from Bucky’s house, and well… Bucky had been planning to go for a walk anyway. Why not this direction? Impulsively, Bucky fell into step beside him, telling himself that, if nothing else, this guy looked like he could use a friend. 

There were a few confused, sideways glances, but they got to the end of the block before the stranger actually said anything. “Are you following me?”

Bucky scrambled for an excuse, any excuse, inwardly wincing when what came out was, “Well, I gotta make sure you actually give the flowers to her and don’t just dump them somewhere.”

“Seriously?” The eyes Bucky had spent entirely too much time mooning over were fixed on him, narrowed suspiciously. 

Well, he’d said it. No choice, but to go with it now. Bucky nodded gravely. “Seriously.”

The man’s eyes narrowed even more, and his plush lips screwed up into something Bucky assumed was exasperation. It came with a slight shrug, which Bucky decided was permission to come along. 

It was one of the dumber things Bucky could remember having done, and given his usual level of ridiculous, that was a lot. They had to talk about something or this was going to get even more awkward. Deciding he had to start somewhere, he blurted out, “I’m Bucky.”

“Huh,” came the response, and Bucky inwardly cringed. This wasn’t going at all like he’d pictured. They’d passed another two houses, and Bucky was seriously considering just going home when his companion spoke up. “Steve.”

“Steve,” Bucky repeated, more for his own benefit than anything. It bought him time to come up with something to talk about. Asking about the mystery girl seemed like an even more terrible idea than the ideas he’d already indulged today, so he steered clear. “Do you live around here?”

Steve shrugged again, a faint lift of his narrow, bony shoulders. “Near enough, I guess. It’s the fastest way to get to this side of town.”

They walked, and they chatted. More accurately, the walked, and Bucky chatted, and sometimes Steve responded with a handful of words. Bucky might have given up on the endeavor, except every now and then he got a shadow of a smile. The expression was strangely muted for someone going on a date, but it was pleasant and well worth the effort. 

“So, what do you do that you have time to follow me around, anyway?” Steve was staring at the flowers rather than Bucky, but he was talking. That was a good sign, wasn’t it?

Bucky was quick to volunteer an answer. “I head up the aeronautics division at Stark Industries.”

“So… what? You’re kind of a rocket scientist?” Steve finally looked up, giving Bucky a skeptical look. 

“I’m exactly a rocket scientist.” If Bucky meant to tack anything else on to that, he didn’t get the chance. 

Steve was laughing. It was a weak and thready sound, but it was endearing anyway. “You look like you’ve been waiting your whole life to say that to someone.”

It came so easily once they got going, and if Bucky was just a little jealous of whoever this mystery girl was, that was okay. Maybe he’d get a friend out of this, and that was good too, especially if it meant Steve finally looked less somber. He grinned at Steve, noting the way the other man relaxed, like something locked up in his spine had finally come loose. “Come on. You’d want to make that joke too.”

“I don’t know,” Steve hedged. “Between the bad jokes and inviting yourself to tag along with perfect strangers, I’m not sure we have a lot in common with regards to life choices.”

Bucky snorted. “Careful. You keep poking fun at me and I’m going to start asking about the girl.”

Just like that, the moment was lost. Steve clammed up, the corners of his mouth pulling down, his eyes locked on the flowers again. Bucky didn’t begin to understand, so he quickly changed the subject. “So, Mister Not a Rocket Scientist. What do you do?”

Steve, as it turned out, was an artist. That sort of explained the lack of care for his clothes, Bucky decided. It probably wasn’t much of a priority in the grand scheme of things. The change of topic smoothed out the tension. 

Even better, art seemed to be something that actually got Steve talking. Bucky had no idea what he was talking about through most of it, but he listened anyway. As they walked, Bucky noticed that Steve’s hand clamped more tightly around the lily stems. Steve’s jaw clenched now and again, but Bucky didn’t dare ask, not when they were making progress. 

He was listening so intently to Steve rattle on about a client who clearly didn’t know what they were asking for, he didn’t notice their destination until they were directly in front of it. Steve stopped very suddenly, shifting from foot to foot. “Well, this is my stop.”

Bucky looked up, brows lifting in surprise. They were at the entrance to the cemetery, an iron archway curving overhead. The girl Steve hadn’t wanted to talk about suddenly made so much more sense, and Bucky’s stomach just about bottomed out as he recognized the reality of the situation. He opened and shut his mouth a couple of times before he managed to speak. “I thought you had a date.”

“I never said I had a date.” Steve’s voice was so quiet, Bucky almost didn’t catch it. 

In that context, the whole thing was awful. Everything he’d done was awful. Bucky could have kicked himself for making what was probably a painful situation even worse. “I’m so sorry for… for your loss. I thought you were talking about a girlfriend.”

Steve shook his head. “My ma. She passed away about six months ago.”

They hovered outside the cemetery, and as easily as words usually came to Bucky, they were utterly failing him now. “I’m sorry. God, you must think I’m such an ass.”

“What? Because you misinterpreted the situation?” Steve flashed him an almost smile, quivery and fragile. “I had you pegged the minute you decided I was a charity case.”

Ouch. Bucky couldn’t really argue with that. Steve didn’t look upset though, at least not about that. His expression was a see-saw of grief and amusement that made Bucky want very badly to draw out more of the latter. “Well, I meant for turning this into a field trip, but alright.”

Steve reached with his free hand, rubbing the back of his neck. “Nah. I’m sort of glad you decided to tag along. This was the least terrible walk I’ve had here since she passed.”

Least terrible. Bucky thought maybe he could work with that. He scuffed his heel against the concrete sidewalk, praying he wasn’t saying the wrong thing again. “It doesn’t seem right for me to go in there with you, but I could stick around ‘til you’re done.”

Steve was frowning at him again, so Bucky rushed to finish. “I thought maybe you could tell me about her… or art… or whatever makes you feel less terrible. Over coffee or something?” 

There was an awful pause as Steve stared at him, mouth open, but nothing coming out. Bucky was sure Steve was just trying to find a polite way to tell him to buzz off. Steve’s head inclined eventually, once and then twice. “I think I’d like that.”

Clutching the lilies, Steve disappeared into the cemetery. Bucky waited outside, leaning against the brick wall that lined the property. Endings were terrible things, and the cemetery was chock full of them. But maybe, just maybe, this could be the beginning of something, too. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on my [personal](http://www.drowningbydegrees.tumblr.com) or [art/fic](http://www.drowningbydegrees-fanworks.tumblr.com) Tumblr!


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